I am all excited about competitions this week! Why? Well, two reasons – I have won one and I am running one!

Competitions makes me feel all nostalogic, entering competitions is something my Nana used to do on my behalf and also with me. My Nana was master of the “tie breaker” and she used to win loads of stuff too – a lego set and a snoopy watch (I still have the watch in my jewellery box!) are two prizes I still fondly remember!

So what did I win, well over at Mums Like You I won two tickets to the Designer Baby Show so have the chance to spend a day enjoying shopping, talking and discovering best-of-breed baby products. Sadly for me the timing (15th November) and the geography (Berkshire, I live in Cheshire) with baby number two due early October meant I have returned the tickets for another lucky winner to be redrawn – I like to think I am sharing the love! So on this occassion, whilst the taking part was important it was pretty much all about the winning! Ha Ha!

So that’s the won one, now to the one I am running … which is for my stationery business, Dandelion Lounge. It will coincide with our Christmas Card, Festive Photo Inserts and Thank You card designs all going live for the festive season and will be running over at the fabulous Café Bébé starting on Sunday 7th through to Saturday 12th September. Full details are already posted up there in anticipation so I shall say no more and let you head on over and check it out … and whilst you are there you still have time to enter a great competition from DaisyChainBaby to win win a gorgeous gift basket worth nearly £30.

I am so chuffed, Dandelion Lounge is running a new banner ad campaign on http://www.mumslikeyou.com I’ve screen grabbed one of the ads running on the site – what do you think?

Mums Like You is a new, ambitous and great newcomer to the online community circuit so if you haven’t paid a visit yet, I’d recommend it as a great online destination to enjoy a coffee break or nap time or two. Mums Like Your enables mothers to stay in touch, share parenting advice and discuss topics we all face as a parent.

I can honestly say its a genuinely friendly community of mums – in the real world I am far from shy but in the virtual one I have been a bit of a lurker for a while, felt very self conscious and just frankly not cool enough to join the groups, forums & communities. I’ve joined a decent number now and this and a few others have been the most welcoming, helpful & supportive. So thank you Mums Like You!

These banners form the start of our Christmas promotional activity which me and the team back at the Lounge are getting super excited about, last year was our “First Christmas” and we were blown away by the popularity of our Christmas cards and photo inserts. We’re very much working hard and hoping to continue our first years success. The collection will be going live online shortly but if you would like an e-brochure sending to you in the meantime just drop me an email at claire@dandelionlounge.co.uk or register online at www.dandelionlounge.co.uk and you’ll get an email as soon as the colletion goes live.

Sorry to be mentioning Christmas in August – but hey I’m a planner by nature and marketer by trade – I’ve got Easter finished before Santa has made to the Chimney! Cx

I promised to post up and share my Christmas card design so here it is, also in the gallery (if I’ve done it correctly!) should be included the “Thank you” card all featuring exclusively designed by my other baby, Dandelion Lounge!

There are loads of different designs for Thank you and other cards to celebrate and share life’s little milestones all loaded on www.dandelionlounge.co.uk so head to the lounge and have a browse. Let me know what you think by adding your comments here or on our Facebook page. Cheers, Claire x

This post is brought to you by the letter “W” because this letter has dominated my week …

·WEATHER, WET WEATHER too – practically all week it feels like.

·To combat the weather my husband bought me WELLIES for my birthday, an odd gift you may think, but I love them. They are Hunters www.hunterboots.comand if you have a little boy being outdoors and preferably amongst mud and puddles these are vital. I have coveted them for years and now I have my very own navy ones!

·Then there has been the WRITING of the Christmas Cards – whilst I love, love, love creating bespoke stationery I hate, hate, hate printing address labels!Why do they always jam my printer at home?!

·WOOLIES – not the knitted jumper type the WOOLWORTHS type. This week sees a high street favourite, a national institution facing collapse. I feel very nostalgic towards woolies, I bought my first record there, spent loads of pocket money on penny sweets fizzy cola bottles and the like and more recently found it brilliant value for kids clothes and Fisher Price toys. I will be very sad to see it go and hope it is saved at the last minute and the brand returns bigger and better than ever. There is a petition for government help to save Woolies from the administrators which you can sign here http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/savewoolies

·The biggest “W” of them all has got to be a WEDDING and I’ve got one of those coming up before Christmas as my sister-in-law gets married next Saturday 20th December. I’ve been gift shopping and outfit choosing times three – it will be a first for my son and our first experience of attending a wedding with him … the jury is out on how well weddings and 20 month olds mix!

·WEEKEND’S – We have no free WEEKEND’s now until well into the New Year, great on the one hand its always lovely to see friends, family and the “framily” that crosses between the two.Good times are had and the WINE always flows but my WAISTLINE and WEIGHT are always challenged by all of the above at this time of year – ho hum! Diet tonic with the gin should help a bit at least!

·WEDDINGS and WEEKENDS away have also had me buying some new toddler kit from my favourite online store www.bumpto3.comso a good browse online and a new travel gro-bag and a table booster seat are on their way to me.

·Not too much of my favourite “W”, WINE, this week but I will be making up for that this evening. I am out for supper with friends and with mine and my friend James’ birthday around the table and the kids installed chez Grandparents there is more than a little cause for celebration!

The pumpkins have been carved and the fireworks are in the biscuit tin ready to go! I am still to choose the Christmas photo and thought I would share some of my tips for choosing the perfect photo for to your Christmas card, photo insert or birth announcement:

Choose a Christmas card design that reflects you and your family

If you like a few you could order more than one design or have both a card and a photo insert

Think about the colours on both your photo and your card design —black and white photos tend to look best with a brightly coloured design, and you will want to avoid using a sepia toned photo with a brown card

Keep it simple—too many frills or colors will ruin the elegance of your message!

Make sure you’re camera is on the highest quality setting on your digital camera, ideally try to ensure the resolution is 300 and the image size is at least 800 x 1200 pixels

Can’t wait to see your festive choices!

Claire x

P.s. Don’t forget to place your orders by Friday 14th November 2008 on www.dandelionlounge.co.uk for delivery before December (Friday 5th December 2008 for delivery before Christmas)